This is a powerful and a thrilling narrative history revealing the
roots of modern science in the medieval world. The adjective
'medieval' has become a synonym for brutality and uncivilized
behavior. Yet without the work of medieval scholars there could
have been no Galileo, no Newton and no Scientific Revolution. In
"God's Philosophers", James Hannam debunks many of the myths about
the Middle Ages, showing that medieval people did not think the
earth is flat, nor did Columbus 'prove' that it is a sphere; the
Inquisition burnt nobody for their science nor was Copernicus
afraid of persecution; no Pope tried to ban human dissection or the
number zero. "God's Philosophers" is a celebration of the forgotten
scientific achievements of the Middle Ages - advances which were
often made thanks to, rather than in spite of, the influence of
Christianity and Islam. Decisive progress was also made in
technology: spectacles and the mechanical clock, for instance, were
both invented in thirteenth-century Europe. Charting an epic
journey through six centuries of history, "God's Philosophers"
brings back to light the discoveries of neglected geniuses like
John Buridan, Nicole Oresme and Thomas Bradwardine, as well as
putting into context the contributions of more familiar figures
like Roger Bacon, William of Ockham and Saint Thomas Aquinas.